POSITION PAPER • The Parrallel Squat - Bigger Faster Stronger

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Figure 6: Lifters with large thighs will have difficulty reaching parallel if the bottom of the thighs were used to determine parallel. made glute-ham raises and lunges high-priority auxiliary exercises. Both of these exercises put minimal stresses on the lower back while working the quads, especially the vastus medialis (an inner thigh muscle that crosses the knee joint and is therefore key to maintaining knee stability) and all four heads of the hamstrings. PRESQUAT TECHNI QUE Before squatting, you must be certain to have the proper equipment. It’s best to squat inside a power rack, with safety pins adjusted to the proper height. However, the safety pins should be thought of as more “depth control,” that is, a last-resort method of ensuring the safety of the athlete, as dropping any barbell on these pins from more than a few inches can easily damage the barbell. Also, it’s better to use Olympic barbells that have center knurling, to more properly secure the weight on the shoulders, and a stiffer barbell. The more flexible (and more expensive) Olympic bars are great for power cleans, but that same flexibility makes it difficult to control the barbell during a squat. When you are ready to squat, you must make several important technique preparations – getting a secure grip, properly positioning the bar on the shoulders, and removing the barbell from the rack. GRIP. Two technique guidelines will help you establish a proper grip on the squat. First is thumb position. Should you have your thumb around the bar or behind the bar? About 60 percent of power lifters have the thumb in back, and 40 percent prefer their thumbs around the bar. Obviously, both styles are acceptable, but larger athletes or those with flexibility issues usually prefer that my athletes lift with their thumbs behind the bar as this grip makes it easier to push the elbows forward and lock in the lower back. The second grip guideline to consider is the width of the grip. At clinics our coaches ask those attending to pretend that they have a bar on their shoulders and to get a “very narrow grip.” Then, we ask them to sit tall, spread their chests, and lock in their lower backs. Next, we tell them to change to a wide grip and lock in their lower backs. When we ask them what grip makes it easier to lock in the lower back, unanimously they always respond that it’s the wide grip. Make certain to use the lines grooved into most Olympic bars about four inches from the inside collars. Use these lines as reference points. For example, you might put your first finger on each line with your thumbs behind the bar. Now you are properly balanced with a wide grip and have some assurance that the bar will remain secure on your shoulders. You are now ready to place the bar on your shoulders. Figure 00 illustrates the proper way to grip. BAR POSITION. A common mistake for athletes who squat is placing the bar too high on the shoulders. In fact, many athletes place the bar right on the neck. That hurts, so they’ll use a barbell pad. Most athletes can squat with more weight, greater effectiveness, and more comfort by placing the bar lower on the shoulders. Structural differences in bone length and tendon-muscle attachments may allow some athletes to squat more effectively with high bar placement. Some power lifters place the bar extremely low on the shoulders, perhaps as much as four inches from the top of the shoulders. This method may give a slight anatomical advantage, or the advantage may result from using a heavy, tight lifting suit or even from a lack of flexibility. Whatever the reason, squatting using extremely low bar placement detracts from overall leg development, which is obviously not helpful to the athlete. Most athletes will be able to find a natural groove on the shoulders when they come under the bar in a proper position. If an athlete is experiencing neck or upper back pain from squats, it may be because the barbell is improperly position on the shoulders or they are performing the exercise improperly. We tell them, “Don’t put the bar on your neck; put it on your shoulders. Find a groove.” In almost every case, if a coach voices these technique cues, athletes will achieve excellent bar placement during their squats. If an athlete does not rapidly adjust to squatting with a barbell on their back, they should consider attaching a Manta Ray device to the barbell. The Manta Ray spreads the pressure of the barbell over a wider area, a change that makes performing the exercise more comfortable. There is only one size Manta Ray available, but the only individuals who might have a problem using it are those with exceptionally large trapezius development. REMOVING THE BAR FROM THE RACK. We’ve seen high school athletes get all psyched up to squat and then position their shoulders two to three inches under the bar. Next, with an explosive movement, they jam their shoulders against the bar. Well, jamming their shoulders against a steel bar from that distance causes bruises on the necks or shoulders. Besides feeling pain, these athletes often place the bar on their shoulders incorrectly. We’ve also seen athletes whip a bar off the rack. Many times these athletes are not in solid squatting position as they back up to a ready stance. For those reasons, the few injuries that take place during squatting most often occur while the athlete is taking the bar off the rack or replacing it on the rack, not during the squat exercise itself. A far superior way to handle the bar is to come under it in a solid power position, making sure that everything is correct. To accomplish this, get the bar in the groove on your shoulders. Look straight ahead and spread the chest. The next technique point is critical. Get into your athletic stance directly under the bar. Many athletes stand a foot back and lean forward. Taking that position can cause lower-back trouble, especially with heavy weight. Now you’re ready. Put some pressure on the bar and make sure that everything feels right. If it does, blast off! This explosive movement will not bruise your shoulders because you’ve already put some pressure on the bar. Because of your explosive movement from the correct position, the bar feels light. You are confident. The bar is now off the rack, and you are firmly under the weight. At this point, take a short step back with each foot and resume an athletic stance. You are ready to squat. With some squat racks, you may have to take several steps backward to clear yourself to squat. Some step-squat racks and peg-squat racks may require many long steps for clearance. Some squat racks have a spotting tier that is too high for parallel squats, thus requiring a long walk back to reach the correct position. Obviously, you are at a disadvantage if you have to do anything more than take a short step back with each foot. Regarding foot stance, having the feet pointed slightly outward enables the quadriceps are able to contract more forcefully and increases the involvement of the adductors. 843 West 2400 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84119 Ph 800.628.9737 Fax 801.975.1159 www.biggerfasterstronger.com
Ideal foot position varies with an individual’s anatomy, but whatever position the athlete uses he or she must make certain that the knees are aligned with the feet. SQUAT TECHNIQUE The parallel squat can be a tricky lift. Technique and correct position mean everything. You must execute every technique guideline to perfection when attempting a new max. You must be psyched, but it must be a controlled psych. Now, on to the squat. The squat has four main phases: the start, the descent, the bottom position, and the upward drive. You must concentrate on perfect technique during all parts of the squat to achieve maximum results. START. You should be looking straight ahead at a target. Your mind should be clear and intense, thinking about technique: spreading the chest, locking in the lower back, and performing your descent pattern. You must take a huge breath and hold it just before the descent. For a one-rep max, take two breaths-first, a huge breath you hold to let the air settle deep within the rib cavity, and second, a quick breath as you begin the descent to expand the chest even further. DESCENT. You should descend in an even, controlled pattern. Some athletes descend inch by inch and take forever, which is a mistake. Some athletes rapidly crash down out of control, which is dangerous. By using an even, controlled pattern, your technique will likely be better. Throughout the descent, you should hold your breath. Always spread the chest, lock in the lower back, look at your target, and sit tall (figure 3). BOTTOM POSITION. You should squat to the parallel position or slightly below it. Keep in mind that many athletes squat high, a common flaw that will detract from their performance. By adhering strictly to the parallel position, you will have an advantage in competition. If you squat high, only minimal hamstring or glute development will take place, which will limit your improvement in speed and jumping. Hitting a correct parallel position is critical for personal and team success. It is one of the great secrets in this book. Some football and strength coaches want their athletes to break parallel. We no objection to this whatsoever. The bottom line is that to get proper leg development, athletes must go at least to parallel. Some coaches use the bottom of the thigh, not the top of the thigh, as their parallel-squatting reference point. This method creates problems because many athletes with large thighs end up squatting two or three inches higher than they would if they used the top of the thigh as the parallel point. These athletes will forgo hamstring and glute development; in addition, standards become meaningless. UPWARD DRIVE. You should continue holding your breath when beginning the upward drive from the parallel position. You should picture your hips attached to a giant rubber band. As you go down to parallel, you stretch the rubber band to the limit. The instant your hips hit parallel, you release the rubber band. Your hips pop upward while you maintain perfect technique. About halfway up, you pass through the sticking point, the position at which the squat becomes easier. When you reach the sticking point, you should breathe out. Athletes performing a heavy squat will sometimes let out a yell as they expel the air in their lungs. This is perfectly acceptable and probably helps with the overall psych of the lift. Your eyes should remain fixed on the same point throughout the entire upward drive. When you complete the set, take short, controlled steps back to the rack. Always remain in a solid position as you rack the bar. SOLVING SQUATTING PROBLEMS Three common mistakes in squatting include knees in and knees forward, and lifting your hips too early. The knees-in problem is more difficult to correct and puts unwanted pressure on the medial collateral ligament. This problem is quite common among female athletes and boys of junior high age. When squatting, the knees-in problem will surface on the way up. The knees are usually all right on the way down when squatting. The first step is for the coach to yell, “Knees!” to the athlete who is squatting. This is a signal for the athlete to force the knees out over the toes. This signal may not work the first time. If it doesn’t, a second correction technique is to tap the inside of the athlete’s knee lightly. This gives the athlete a kinesthetic feel of the problem. The cure usually happens after only a few light taps. If the problem persists, coaches should videotape their athletes performing squats so that they can see themselves. This usually does the trick in those few extreme cases. The knees-forward problem often occurs with beginners who lift their heels off the ground during the descent. This error puts harmful stress on the patella area, besides causing the lift to be horribly ineffective. Coaches can correct the knees-forward problem by letting the athlete hold on to a partner’s hands for balance, which we call the squat balance test (Figure 4). The athlete should sit tall, spread the chest, and keep the elbows and shoulders back. The athlete will then be able to balance with the heels on the ground from a parallel-squat position. The partner should let go after a while to let the athlete have a chance to regain balance from that difficult position. Surprisingly, most high school athletes can balance themselves after they get the feel of the parallel position with their heels on the ground. Many bodybuilders squat with the knees forward and the bar positioned high on the neck. They usually lift with a lighter weight and higher reps, along with substituting other exercises for squats such as the leg press, and therefore may never have a problem. Athletes, however, usually bring the bar back more on the shoulders and want to lift a lot more weight. If the knees continue to come forward with heavier weights, this can be a potentially dangerous situation. The athlete must attempt to sit back more on the hips, with the lower leg being more vertical. Sometimes, especially with a heavy weight, your hips may come up all right but you will lean over. To correct this position, you can try two techniques. First, scoot your hips forward and try to get them underneath the bar. Obviously, you should reexamine our previous technique guidelines for the chest and lower back. The second technique that works extremely well with many athletes is to think “elbows forward.” When you press your elbows forward during a squat, you will tend to have an upright torso with a big chest and a locked-in lower back. The hips will follow the elbows. SPOTTING Correct spotting technique is critical to proper execution of the squat. Coaches have the responsibility to teach correct spotting techniques. Three spotters, a back spotter and two side spotters, should be used to ensure success in squatting. The functions of the spotters are threefold. First, the spotters should act as coaches and give correct technique cues. Second, they should act as judges on depth and technique problems. Third, they should be enthusiastic teammates and offer constant encouragement. Spotters should pull the best from their training partners. Figure 00 shows correct spotting positions for the parallel squat. The side spotters are in the correct position for their dual role as 843 West 2400 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84119 Ph 800.628.9737 Fax 801.975.1159 www.biggerfasterstronger.com
Page 1 and 2: The parallel squat is one of the mo
Page 3: Figure 3: Examples of great spottin

POSITION PAPER • The Parrallel Squat - Bigger Faster Stronger

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